Republican Party unveils national security bill as final piece of Ukraine aid package

House GOP leaders on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping package of Republican national security priorities designed to sweeten a massive round of new funding for Ukraine and other foreign allies in the face of fierce conservative opposition.

The bill features the “innovations” promised by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) when he rejected a Senate-approved foreign aid package in favor of a House version that he said would better reflect interests and concerns of lower house lawmakers.

His proposal includes a provision that would ban TikTok in the US if the company fails to separate its operations from the Chinese Communist Party, and another to install new sanctions on Iran – an idea that has gained momentum since Tehran’s attacks on Israel at the end of last week.

The package also includes several provisions designed to ease the financial burden on U.S. taxpayers by providing some of the new aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan — albeit a forgivable one — and empowering the administration to tap seized Russian assets to help pay for the massive costs. of Ukrainian reconstruction.

But in a departure from its initial plans, the legislation does not include a provision that would block President Biden’s freeze on new licenses for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Johnson introduced the LNG provision last month, telling Fox News in an interview: “We want to free up American energy. We want to have natural gas exports that help defund Vladimir Putin’s war effort in that country.” This idea, however, drew harsh criticism from Democrats, some of whom called it a “failure.”

During a press conference on Wednesday, Johnson suggested that LNG supplies had not been cut.

“We tried to include it in this package and in all packages, we will continue to fight for it and defend the case because it is fundamental to our stability,” he said.

The national security legislation — dubbed the “21st Century Peace Through Strength Act” — is the fourth and final piece of a foreign aid package that the House is expected to consider, one bill at a time, on Saturday, before to combine the quartet into a single one. package and send it to the Senate. The first three bills, introduced Wednesday, provide military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.

Israel’s bill also includes about $9.2 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other global hotspots — the same amount included in the Senate bill and demanded by Democrats, whose support will be needed to pass the four bills in the lower house.

Clearing the way for passage, President Biden came out strongly in favor of the four-bill package on Wednesday, even before the final proposal was formally unveiled – a reflection of the negotiations between the parties that led to the week’s debate.

“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate must follow quickly,” Biden said. “I will sanction this immediately to send a message to the world: we stand with our friends and will not allow Iran or Russia to succeed.”

The Ukraine issue has been a huge headache for Johnson, the new House speaker who has faced waves of fury from hard-line conservatives who think he is too willing to cut bipartisan deals with Biden on key issues like federal spending and government surveillance.

The Ukraine package fits the same mold, and House conservatives wasted no time in accusing the President of not fighting hard enough to secure Republican priorities in the foreign aid package, especially when it comes to security on the U.S. southern border.

Johnson has for months demanded that any new aid to Ukraine be coupled with tighter border security. But although the House will vote on a border bill on Saturday, it will not be included in the other four foreign aid proposals, meaning Democratic leaders who control the Senate can — and almost certainly will — ignore it.

Conservatives are furious about this strategy, accusing Johnson of neglecting America’s national security while pushing to secure other countries’ borders. Some promise to vote not only against the various foreign aid bills, but also against the rule that will govern the debate on these bills in the Chamber plenary.